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Visualizing Vibrations in Real-Time with XinaBox and Ubidots

Learn how to make a vibration sensor that sends its vibration values to Ubidots IoT platform to visualise in real-time.

XinaBox produces a range of 80+ modular xChips, which include cores/CPUs, sensors, power, communication, output, and storage, using a connectivity standard without wires, soldering, breadboards or hardware knowledge

The xChip CW01 (ESP82666 Core) is a microprocessor and Wi-Fi module, that enables users to send/receive data from XinaBox's modular xChips to/from the cloud.

xChip SI01 (LSM9DS1) is an IMU 9DoF module that comprises of 3 sensors, an accelerometer that measures acceleration of the X, Y and Z axes, a magnetometer that computes orientation to magnetic north, on the X, Y and Z axes, therefore we can calculate which direction we are facing as well as the angle at which we are leaning. The last sensor is the gyroscope that measures our orientation to the center of the earth.

Vibration sensors are used in a variety of applications, such as in industrial machines to detect faults. The xChip SI01’s accelerometer detects static and dynamic acceleration in three axes. Using the acceleration values, we can determine the vibrations and visualize them on a graph.

By the end of this guide you will be able to build your own vibration sensor using XinaBox xChips and Ubidots that will display a real time graphical plot on the Ubidots dashboard.

4. Result

For demonstration, I have used my mobile phone as a vibrator. Notice that the graph is a straight line until I turn on vibrations.

5. Summary

In this project we have shown how to make a vibration sensor using XinaBox xChips CW01 and SI01. The project plots real time vibration values on the Ubidots dashboard to visualize. The project is useful in detecting faulty conditions of machines. The project is simple to build and requires little or no hardware knowledge.